Jessica Koslow

About eight hours after Luke was born via emergency C-section, the nurses noticed that he was turning blue and transferred him to the NICU. At first, the doctors thought it might be an infection, but after some monitoring, it was determined he had a severe heart defect: Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. He was also born without a pulmonary artery — there was no way for blood to get from his heart to his lungs.

About 14 hours after Luke was born, he was transferred to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), where he stayed in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) for about 3 1/2 weeks. He underwent his first surgery at 3 days old and another at 5 1/2 months. At age 5, he returned to CHLA for yet another.

“He’s been holding stable, and he’s doing great,” said South Pasadena resident Jodi Reagan, the mother of Luke, now 12, Jack, 9, and Thomas, 7. “He’ll probably need another procedure within the next two or three years.” . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Jorie Das has a personal reason for wanting to make a difference in the lives of children facing great difficulty. As a kid, she spent time in foster care, and a social worker had a profound impact on her life. As the executive director of Friends of the Children – Los Angeles since 2019, she has helped pair children with full-time, paid professional mentors — called Friends — from pre-kindergarten through high school graduation.

“A social worker saw things in me that I probably couldn’t see in myself yet,” said Das. “And having an adult like that in my corner shaped me. I know what a difference it makes when there’s an adult who isn’t just managing a case but actually knows you and believes in you and keeps showing up — and that’s ultimately what drew me to Friends of the Children – Los Angeles.”

Das built her career in child welfare working as a foster care advocate before landing at the nation’s first and only long-term, professional mentoring program. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Temecula might be best known for its wineries, hot-air balloon rides and Pechanga Resort Casino. Even for those travelers who are not drinkers, gamblers or lovers of heights, Temecula still satisfies. I am in the latter category, but when I saw that the dance crew Jabbawockeez — who have a residency in Las Vegas and were on my bucket list — was appearing at the Pechanga Theater on my birthday, I rounded up my family and headed south for the two-hour drive.

It is worth noting that Temecula, where Pechanga Resort Casino is located, can get hot, with temperatures topping 100 degrees. So plan accordingly. Walking and shopping on the streets of Old Town Temecula and touring the local wineries might be less appealing in the heat, but even in the hottest months, options like Spa Pechanga and The Cove, Pechanga’s 4.5-acre pool oasis, featuring 27 cabanas and six daybeds, are pretty swell. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Almost four years ago, after a multimillion-dollar renovation, the Holiday Inn across from the Santa Monica Pier reopened as The Pierside, a surprisingly quiet place to stay, anchored by a chilled-out spot to eat, The Surfing Fox. The restaurant and gathering spot hosts activities year-round, and on Sept. 29, it will celebrate National Coffee Day by offering guests $1 coffee (including espresso drinks).

“Nowadays, and in this economy, everybody is looking for a little break,” said Director of Marketing Csilla Martin-Arujo. And Angelenos love their coffee: According to WalletHub’s report on 2026’s Best Coffee Cities in America, L.A. ranked 14.

Another perk on The Surfing Fox’s calendar is its upcoming Stirred Spirits: Halloween Mixology Class on Oct. 24 led by bartender George, where participants will learn how to craft two cocktails. The property’s programming is all part of its mission to foster a culture of community. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It was scheduled to be something special: A living 150-year-old olive tree in Spain would ceremonially open the first U.S. flagship of OLIVE TREE PEOPLE at 1335 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. As the crowd gathered on August 27 around 10:30 a.m., founder Thomas Lommel welcomed his guests to listen to the tree’s live frequency as olive leaves were sprinkled down from the roof. Waterless beauty is the fastest-growing sector in the beauty industry, and OLIVE TREE PEOPLE is the fastest-growing company in waterless beauty—and now the brand’s U.S. flagship has put down roots on “The Coolest Block in America.”

“Can you imagine what that is?” asked Lommel, as visitors walked through the doors and gazed at the architecture of the product shelves, which appear like cathedral arches.

“These are our trees,” he explained. “We didn’t want to bring in real trees, so we created these beautiful sculptures. When I’m in the forest, it feels like a cathedral. And what is important when it comes to trees? Soil. For that reason, we brought in 45,000 pounds of soil from Spain and L.A., which has been combined through ancient rammed-earth construction.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It depends on the month and how busy Samantha Dockser is, but between physical and audiobooks, she usually reads about eight a month. Growing up outside of Washington, D.C., her mom would take her and her brother to the Chevy Chase Library in Maryland, which was walking distance from her house, and they’d fill up a wagon with books. She eventually read her way to her dream job in 2024 at Logue Social, a social media marketing agency for authors, and together with the founder, Morgan Messing, launched Preoccupied LA to leverage Instagram to bring LA’s literary community together through in-person events.

“I’ve always loved reading,” Dockser said. “During college, I developed a real passion for content creation as a means of storytelling. I’ve been posting the books that I’ve been reading on social media since 2018. Finding a way to turn my love of reading into this creative career has been really fun.”

Born in Brentwood, Messing worked for Goop and ICM and was about to embark on a career at a publishing house doing marketing for books when realized there was a missing piece of the machine: Authors were being asked to market their books on social media in a way they had never done before. The landscape of publishing and marketing for books had shifted, and authors did not have the tools, skills or time to most effectively sell their books. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Melanie Buttarazzi is a professional dancer. She loves movement and performing for the masses, but her most significant memories involve the time she spent working for outreach programs in in high school and university. In 2014, a few years after moving from Toronto to LA, she realized that local youth were lacking opportunities to take dance classes. She began building a program using dance as a vehicle for confidence-building and life-skill development for foster and at-risk youth.

“I just knew the power of dance, not only in my own life and in my peers’ lives, but I saw how these outreach programs were so helpful for at-risk youth,” she said. “They’re problem solving in class. I believe dancers are the best problem solvers. We know how to instantly figure something out. We’re always given different challenges and obstacles, just in choreography alone.”

After dancing and touring all her life, mostly with her father, flamenco guitarist Robert Michaels, Buttarazzi arrived in LA around 2010. She worked as a commercial dancer, performing in a JLo music video and a VMA performance with Pitbull. A few years in, she met a 20-year-old former foster youth, with whom she shared her idea about creating a dance program. He detailed his own life story and asked if she had considered serving foster youth. His last words were: “I know you don’t know me, and I don’t really know you, but you have to do this. These kids need a program like this.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It all started at Pasadena’s Flintridge Center, which aims to break the cycle of poverty and violence. Rewind: Maybe it all started when Edwin Hernandez realized that he was a father of four in need of support. In 2023, he graduated from Flintridge Center’s Institute/Vision 2020 leadership program, where he created his own 10-week curriculum for dads, in which they talked about a different topic each week, such as trauma, mental health and healthy relationships. While talking with a therapist at the center, he was strongly encouraged to start the program right there, right then.

“My therapist said, Edwin, this is amazing, we don’t hear about anything like this for dads. When you have something special in your hands, you should really push it,” said Hernandez. “He walked me to his boss’ office, and he scheduled me for 10 weeks for the classroom. He said, Edwin, we’re just going to push it out there. If nothing comes from it, then at least we could say you tried.”

When he first entered Flintridge’s leadership program, Hernandez had no idea what he would create. As he was sitting in class each week, he started thinking: “I am a dad, and I have gone through things with my kids, and it was difficult for me to find resources. There are a lot of dads that go through the same thing I’ve been going through.” . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

“I remember when I went to visit Camp Bob Waldorf and I saw this young camper — he was a first-time camper — and I said, what are you looking forward to?” said Lauren Kurzweil, Board President at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA). “I’m thinking he’s going to say horseback riding or the high ropes or something truly unique that he’s not able to do at home, and he said, three meals a day. That just gives you some indication of how much even just five days means to them.”

The young camper’s answer is why Kurzweil does what she does full-time: Keep JBBBSLA operating year-round through its four main programs — camp, mentorship, teen programming and College Access + Success.

“Our foundation is built on the mentoring,” she explained. “We’re Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, and that’s our core. The people who are involved in our program don’t have to be practicing necessarily, but both the Bigs and the Littles need to identify as Jewish.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Jacob Adams, founder of Inner Spark Learning Lab, winner of the 2026 California Nonprofit of the Year award, was a rebel of sorts in elementary school.

“I knew I had to do my work. I knew I had to learn, but after I did my work, I would usually talk or play and get in trouble,” he revealed. “I feel like I’ve always had a contentious relationship with school.”

For Adams, education was never fun. He never got to ask the questions he really cared about. Instead of veering away from the field, Adams steered straight toward it. After college, he signed up for Teach for America and eventually created and launched his own nonprofit, Inner Spark Learning Lab: Teaching Black and Brown students to design the world they want to live in. His model is based on three words: listen, learn, adapt. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.